Thank you to Neve Spicer , Founder & Director of WeTheParents.org for this guest blog.

‘The banners and party balloons for World Breastfeeding Week 2018 are just about to be taken down. Once again, the world tipped its hat to breastfeeding mamas everywhere, we feel this is the perfect time to raise an issue that has gone largely ignored by society as a whole.

All too often, mothers who are not breastfeeding find themselves under the microscope of other parents or even their own doctors. We know that the breast is best, everyone will say, so why can’t you get on board and do what is ‘right’ for your infant?

The fact is, it’s not always as simple as wanting or not wanting to breastfeed; much depends on a mother’s socioeconomic status, their education level, and their support network.

We can’t ignore that breastfeeding inequality is a real problem plaguing societies across the globe. The statistics are often appalling. In America, 21% of infants are not breastfed. Taking into account that each year there around 4 million babies born in America, that means that 840,000 infants are going without being breastfed each year.

Say that number out loud. Eight hundred and forty thousand infants are not being breastfed in a country that considers itself a mecca of opportunity and equality. In the UK, the numbers may be smaller, but a similar disparities between well-off and less well-off mothers play out.

We The Parents has put together an infographic that further delves into the startling reality of how a low socioeconomic status can decrease the rate of breastfeeding.

Learn more about the breastfeeding inequality and why it matters at We The Parents.

Look, we’re not saying that we can abolish this level of inequality overnight. What we are saying is, mums, instead of dividing along tribal lines, let’s unite and push for all mothers to have the same access to breastfeeding information, support, and workplace lactation programmes.

World Breastfeeding Week is a great platform to jump start this movement, but we, as human beings, need to make sure that we carry the fight through to a resolution that improves everyone’s future.’